Capital Correspondence - How your senators, representatives voted

Monday

Mar 25, 2013 at 10:14 PM

The House sent President Obama a stopgap appropriations bill to keep the government running.

FISCAL 2013 STOPGAP SPENDING: Voting 318 for and 109 against, the House on March 21 sent President Obama a stopgap appropriations bill to keep the government running for the final six months of fiscal 2013 at an annual level of $982 billion. While the bill (HR 933) locks in across-the-board spending cuts inflicted by the sequester on military, foreign-affairs and domestic programs, it also makes targeted cuts designed to undercut the Affordable Care Act and shackle the Dodd-Frank financial-reform law.A yes vote was to pass the bill.Voting yes: Mike McIntyre, DVoting no: Walter Jones, R

FISCAL 2013 STOPGAP SPENDING: Voting 73 for and 26 against, the Senate on March 20 sent the House a bill (HR 933) to fund the government between March 28-Oct. 1 at an annual rate of $982 billion. The bill implements the deep, blind cuts known as sequestration but gives five departments flexibility to ensure they accomplish essential missions. They are the departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, Justice and Commerce. The bill also extends existing limits on law-enforcement authorities in their dealings with gun dealers and owners in areas such as inventory controls and the handling of evidence in gun crimes.A yes vote was to pass the bill.Voting yes: Kay Hagan, D Voting no: Richard Burr, R

SPENDING FOR MILITARY BIOFUELS: Voting 40 for and 59 against, the Senate on March 20 refused to transfer $25 million in HR 933 from a Pentagon project to build biofuels refineries to accounts for military operations and maintenance. The project is designed to help the Department of Defense, the world's largest single oil customer, achieve energy independence. This amendment was offered to HR 933.A yes vote backed the amendment.Voting yes: Burr Voting no: Hagan

DEMOCRATS' 2014 BUDGET: Voting 50 for and 49 against, the Senate on March 23 approved a Democratic budget for fiscal 2014 and later years. The budget (SCR 8) levies $975 billion in new taxes over 10 years, mainly by reforming the tax code and increasing taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals; replaces the sequester's across-the-board cuts with targeted austerity; authorizes $100 billion in infrastructure spending to create jobs; protects the Medicare guarantee. This budget leads to an annual deficit of $566 billion after ten years.A yes vote backed the Democratic budget.Voting no: Hagan, Burr

REPUBLICANS' 2014 BUDGET: Voting 46 for and 53 against, the Senate on March 21 rejected a Republican bid to replace the Democratic budget (SCR 8, above) with a measure similar to the GOP budget approved the same day by the House. Known as “the Paul Ryan budget,” that fiscal plan reaches balance in four years while repealing much of the Affordable Care Act, slashing domestic spending, raising military spending, privatizing Medicare after 10 years, sending Medicaid and food stamps to the states as block grants and barring tax increases.A yes vote backed the GOP budget plan.Voting yes: Burr Voting no: Hagan

TAX RATES, JOBLESS RATES: Senators on March 22 defeated, 45 for and 54 against, a GOP amendment that sought to prohibit any of the tax increases in SCR 8 from taking effect until the unemployment rate falls below 5.5 percent.A yes vote was to effectively bar tax hikes proposed in the Democratic budget.Voting yes: Burr Voting no: Hagan